A rather nice companion piece to the 2002 film 24 Hour Party People, this is an engaging 1984 documentary about Factory Records made by the band New Order for the Channel 4 (UK television) program Play at Home.

Although the group does perform three full numbers live, they spend the majority of the film sans instruments conducting interviews with the key movers and shakers of the seminal label that they helped build. The doc employs plenty of humor, whether it be the quirky opening narration or the clever editing/sound cues (the closing credits are hilarious) or the quick witted comments by the cast. It’s a fun time indeed: Bernard Sumner chows down while quizzing art director Peter Saville at a local Manchester eatery, Peter Hook manages to ask questions and crisscross miles of farmland with co-founder Alan Erasmus on the back of his motorcycle, and in the most eyebrow raising moments, a fully clothed Gillian Gilbert slips into the tub with a very nude Factory chief Tony Wilson, who has plenty to say. Other memorable moments: manager Rob Gretton interviewing himself via a phone and TV, a tour of The Haçienda club while it was still relatively new, and producer Martin Hannet in full Phil Spector mode firing a gat during his Q+A session.